South

Atlanta to Break Ground on College Football Hall of Fame

On Jan. 28, construction crews will break ground on the new College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) reported this week.

Located in the city's convention corridor, within walking distance of 10,000 hotel rooms and the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC), the 95,000-square-foot facility will include a 45-yard indoor football field capable of holding up to 650 people for banquet-style seating, or up to 1,200 people standing. In addition, it will include a 150-seat 4K 3D theater and two more event spaces for groups of 200 to 400 people.

"Our compact convention corridor provides the infrastructure for a successful meeting, but venues like the College Football Hall of Fame open up a new world of possibilities for meeting planners," said ACVB President and CEO William Pate. "More than a billion dollars of development will open over the next three years, which will make meetings in Atlanta even more engaging and efficient."

The College Football Hall of Fame will open by fall 2014 and will be joined in 2017 by a new $1 billion football stadium that will host up to 90 events a year, including citywide conventions.

"If you look around our city right now, you can feel the excitement," said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. "With the addition of the College Football Hall of Fame, Atlanta is going to have one of the most vital tourism corridors in the United States."